Prince Charles steps up as Queen steps back

LONDON, United Kingdom -- On Remembrance Sunday, Prince Charles will lay Queen Elizabeth II’s wreath honouring Britain’s war dead as she watches on -- a rare public symbol of the 91-year-old gradually scaling back her duties.

It will be a milestone moment in the otherwise imperceptibly slow-motion process, as her eldest son, now 69, increasingly steps up on her behalf.

Experts said Britain’s oldest-ever monarch would never consider abdication or even a regency by her son, having sworn to serve her people for life.

But Charles, the heir to the throne, will steadily take on more duties outside the core constitutional obligations of her job.